Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks are virtual communities on the Internet where participants directly connect with one another or where they use an intermediate service to directly connect with one another. P2P has been the subject of much public debate and concern, since it provides participants the ability to share files and information with the potential of being undetected in the process.
The primary concern comes from content owners that distribute music, movies, literary works, etc. One of the more recent and high profile incidents occurred when Napster® was essentially stopped from distributing music over its P2P services for free. After this highly publicized case, many P2P networks have put checks and balances in place and have partnered with content owners to distribute copyrighted content for nominal fees. Although some abuses still remain within the P2P communities.
The entertainment industry has also realized that stopping P2P networks is not practical and in fact not presently a viable legal option. Moreover, even assuming P2P networks could be legally stopped, the publicity backlash could be devastating to the entertainment industry. As a result, content owners are trying to become active participants in P2P communities and trying to leverage the technology to their benefit for purposes of increasing sales and retaining customers.
Yet, little is known about P2P networks and even less is known about any given P2P network relative to another or remaining P2P networks. In most cases, the information about the characteristics for a given P2P network is only obtainable from the given P2P's provider, such as Napster®, Gnutella®, etc. The problem with this is that these providers may embellish their P2P's characteristics for purposes of appearing more significant than they actually are. But, quality information about P2P networks is vital to content owners and their business investment and marketing decisions.
Accordingly, improved techniques for measuring P2P networks are desirable.